It has been the practice for many years to provide athletic type socks with a terry loop "cushion" sole in which the same type and density of terry loops extend throughout the length of the lower sole portion of the sock to provide the same type of terry loop cushioning, protection and moisture absorbency throughout the entire length of the lower portion of the foot of the wearer. When taking part in athletic activities, such as jogging and running, the cartilages joining the bones in the arch of the foot provide elasticity and the arch tends to flatten each time the foot impacts on the surface. When the known type of sock with the same type of terry loop cushioning throughout the length of the sole is worn by a person having either a flatter or higher arch than normal and with a shoe provided with a normal arch support, the flattening of the arch results in the flatter than normal arch receiving a major portion of the shock of the impact, while the higher than normal arch is not properly supported. In either case, the arches of the feet begin to hurt after only a short period of jogging or running.
It is known to provide the same type of terry loop cushioning in certain selected areas of the foot of a sock, for example in the manner illustrated in the Davis U.S. Pat. No. 2,144,563. However, this patent discloses providing the same type of terry loops throughout the arch and ball areas and does not solve the problems encountered by joggers and runners with flatter or higher than normal arches.
Others have recognized the need for supporting and applying a cushion pad beneath the arch and various types of arch supports have been incorporated in shoes. Also, it has been suggested that arch support pads be provided in pockets in socks, of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,790,975. U.S. Pat. No. 2,219,235 discloses forming an elastic band extending completely around or beneath the middle of the foot of a sock and making the lower half of the band of thicker material. This arrangement supports the entire lower half of the arch area of the foot so that the support on both the inner and outer portions of the arch is the same and the support on the inner portion is not effective.